Regional Slam Poetry Championship happens this weekend

Why stay at home reading the likes of Byron, Dickinson, Whitman, Plath, Levertov or Lowell? Put those dreary texts aside. Take a stride outside the normative literary scene found in dusty old books or a tattered magazine. Take wing, visit the local performance poetry scene!

It's a social possibility you won't soon regret. This weekend's slam competition is a sure-to-win bet.

But seriously folks, it's a chance to listen and respond to folks whose poetic proclivities also include performance, competition, and worthy word-smithery.

Preliminary bouts will be held at Winnings Coffee (111 Harvard SE) and the Albuquerque Center for Peace and Justice (202 Harvard SE) on Friday night, June 26, beginning at 7:00 pm. These events are free; the public is invited to attend.

The Championship slam happens Saturday night at the South Broadway Cultural Center (1025 Broadway SE) and costs a mere ten bucks for admittance. Doors to this fantastical foray into syllabic profundity open at 7 that night.

Spoken word artists, performance poets and slammers from all over the Southwest region will be in attendance and ready to fight it out for the chance to advance to the national competition to be held in August.

The wordy side of Burque

Slam poets shoot each other with words

By Summer Olsson

Poets from around the country will take aim and fire at one another, turning Albuquerque into an O.K. Corral of lyricism. The 2011 Southwest Shootout features wordsmiths from Louisiana, Colorado, Texas and, of course, New Mexico performing their particular flavor of poetry.

April is National Poetry Month

By Summer Olsson

Some people hear the word “poetry” and flash back to that grueling week in middle school whern they were forced to dissect and memorize Carl Sandburg’s “Fog.” If that’s you, this month offers a good excuse to reassess: We’re in the first few of a whole 30 days devoted to imaginative, rhythmic, lyrical expression.

The instigators over at Warehouse 508 just won't leave kids alone, what with their constant encouragement and program development. Witness 508's latest machinations (this time abetted by the Duke City Youth Poetry Collective and ABQSlams) at the 2010 ABQ Youth Slam-Off tonight (Saturday) at 7 p.m., with sign-up beginning at 6 p.m. Poets, MCs and spoken-worders ages 13 to 19 will battle it out for the title of 2010 Youth Champion. The event at the National Hispanic Cultural Center (1701 Fourth Street SW) is $5.